


An Unexpected Gift

by TheCoffeeBadger



Category: The Terror (TV 2018), The Terror - Dan Simmons
Genre: 12 Days of Carnivale, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Canon who?, Domestic Fluff, Family Fluff, Father's Day, M/M, This is just indulgent fluff, they deserve nice things dammit, this is my first fic ever pls be nice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-25
Updated: 2019-08-25
Packaged: 2020-09-26 14:23:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,456
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20391151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheCoffeeBadger/pseuds/TheCoffeeBadger
Summary: It's Father's Day in the Crozier household and James Fitzjames is definitely not panicking, thank you very much.





	An Unexpected Gift

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for the 12 Days of Carnivale exchange and fits into an AU that Earfalas and I regularly scream at each other about and so some context:  
\- Francis is a somewhat famous author, James is an actor and they met while filming an adaptation of one of Francis' books.  
\- Edward, John and Thomas were adopted by Francis when they were kids and grew up with him as their single dad with help from the Blankys and the Bridgens-Peglars.  
\- Edward is a punk kindergarten teacher, John's a perennial student who helps out at the Brigdens-Peglar bookshop in his spare time and Tom is a baker.  
\- Although John is about 6 months older than Edward, the three decided in a weekend-long conference at the age of 9 (8 for Tom) that Edward is the eldest, Tom the youngest and John the middle one.  
\- They're referred to as "the boys" a lot in this but all three of them are in their 20s
> 
> There are more details but I think that's all the context needed here. Please let me know if something's unclear in the comments!

James was familiar with the importance of Father’s Day in the Crozier household. It was, after all, the only day other than Francis’ birthday (begrudgingly surrendered) that the boys could celebrate their father and all he had done for them without him grumbling. Even though the boys were all grown up now, it was a tradition they had no desire to break; especially while soaring London house prices kept them living under their father’s roof. A roof James now shared.

James had forsaken the houseboat (he still had it, it was now just moored in the canal and only used as a riverside cottage for quick weekends away from the boys) and moved into the sensible, 5-bedroom house in Greenwich with his boyfriend, and the boys: Edward (“call me Ned”), John and Tom. It had made sense 6 months ago. The house was more convenient for the commute to work, he and Francis had been dating for 3 years, James loved Francis and, he loved the boys as his own.

Except they weren’t his own, not really. And it was _Father’s Day_. A day for _fathers_. Which he was not.

He didn’t want to intrude on this extremely important day and so James had never actually spent a Father’s Day with the Croziers before. He'd been conveniently busy with “pressing boat maintenance” or a “work event” or the surprisingly truthful excuse that he was stuck in Brighton as his sister-in-law had gone into an early labour and his brother was still in New York trying to obtain a Titian for the National Gallery. But there weren’t any convenient excuses this year, he lived with them; they had a shared google calendar. They knew he wasn’t busy.

The crux of the issue wasn’t that James didn’t want to spend Father’s Day with them, it was that he really did, just not as Dad’s Boyfriend™. He knew first-hand how important one’s adoptive family is, and how shitty it was to have to share a day meant for just family with an outsider. He just wanted them to have a wonderful day celebrating their wonderful and unique family without having to worry about excluding him.

James also had no idea how he was supposed to act. There was no ‘First Father’s Day with My Boyfriend and His 3 Adult Sons for Dummies’ (he’d checked). How involved was he supposed to be? What did the boys expect of him? Was he meant to not have bought Francis a present? He supposed it was too late to do anything about it now. He’d just have to accept whatever happened and whatever level of participation was expected of him.

All these thoughts swirled in his head as he lay there in bed, Francis seemingly fast asleep beside him, the morning sunlight streaming through the cracks in the blinds.

Suddenly, he heard a crash coming from the kitchen downstairs. Just as he moved to get up and investigate the source of all the racket, a now more obviously awake, though still prone, Francis groaned “It’s just the boys; Ned always drops the pans into the sink a bit too loudly. Stay in bed and pretend to be asleep, the crash usually means they’re about to make their way upstairs with breakfast.”

“Oh,” James replied, settling himself back under the covers and trying to get comfortable, “Do they do that every year?”

“Every year. And Ned drops the pans. Every. Year.” He cracked an eye open, “C’mere, you’re thinking too loud” Francis said sleepily, pulling James into a lazy cuddle and pressing a kiss to his hairline.

James, unsure of what was appropriate today, (and rather relieved to receive cuddles from his boyfriend) decided to follow Francis’ lead. Just as he was starting to relax in his partner’s arms, the bedroom door swung open.

“HAPPY FATHER’S DAY!” The boys shouted as they entered with two trays laden with a generous cooked breakfast for the five of them and James scrambled out of Francis’ embrace.

“Oh, thank you boys!” Francis said, sitting up and shooting James a slightly concerned look.

“Thank you, this looks delicious!” James said, following Francis’ example, and trying to look like he wasn’t panicking.

“It’s tradition! And besides you guys deserve it.” Tom said, triumphantly setting down one of the trays near James before perching on the bed like his brothers.

“But first, presents!” John said, smiling kindly at James.

James smiled back but inside, he was starting to freak out ever-so-slightly. How was he supposed to hold his face when Francis opened his presents? Should he give Francis his present now or later? Was he hiding the fact that he really wanted to be part of this family well enough? Was the worry showing on his face?

“As the oldest, I called dibs on giving my stuff first” Edward said, interrupting James’ downward spiral and handing Francis a card and a surprisingly well-wrapped present.

“Thank you.” Francis said as he took the parcel. He opened the envelope and read the card. “Aww, I love you too Ned and I promise you, I’m the lucky one to have been blessed with such wonderful children.” He said leaning forward to hug his eldest. Francis then opened the package to find a hand-knitted rainbow jumper.

“It is Pride Month, Dad” Edward clarified.

“I love it, thank you.” Francis chuckled as he folded up the jumper and put it next to him on the bed.

“Who’s next?” John then presented him with another heartfelt card and the exact old book on obscure maritime history that Francis had been scouring reference libraries and (once in desperation) Amazon for.

“Thank you, John; you’re a wizard.” Francis said, very carefully setting the book down on the nightstand and giving John his own hug.

“It came in with the latest lot in the shop, pure luck.” John laughed.

“Sorcery.” Francis insisted.

Next, Tom handed over his card and a vinyl record.

“Is this an original copy of Inflammable Material?” Francis asked in awe.

“I found it in the charity shop of all places! You told us once that it was the first record you ever bought and well, your one broke in the move so...” Tom shrugged, looking vaguely embarrassed.

“Thank you so much, Tom. Just wow” Francis propped it up on the nightstand before squeezing Tom in a big bear hug and absolutely beaming at his sons.

James was rather relieved. He seemed to have survived the gift-giving, now he just had to survive the rest of the day and try his best not to put his foot in it. Except, the boys had now turned to face him.

“Here you go, James. We weren’t sure how OK you would be with us giving you Father’s Day presents but, well, you’ve really become like a second dad to us and so we all chipped in to get you something nice. And, well, yeah, we just hope this is OK.” Edward said as he awkwardly handed over a beautifully wrapped parcel.

James was stunned. He could barely make his fingers work to open it. Inside was a beautifully delicate, light blue silk summer scarf with a delicate forget-me-not pattern on it.

“Thank you so much boys, I absolutely adore it!” James said, wrapping it around his neck to model it before leaning forward to capture them all in a hug.

“You’re welcome! Oh, but we forgot your card!” Said John, handing over an envelope. Once again James was stunned.

Inside the card, they had written “Happy Father’s Day James!” in big letters across both sides, with a personal message from each of the boys in the blank space around it.

“Thank you, boys,” James said, holding back tears, “You really didn’t have to go to all that trouble.”

“You’re most welcome and it was no trouble at all, James. You’re an important part of this family and we want you to know that we really do love you like a second dad.” Tom said as the Crozier clan all moved to hug James, whose tears only intensified at the show of love from the family he didn’t even realise he’d joined.

“Right,” James sniffed before giving a watery smile, “Better eat this glorious breakfast you made before it all gets cold!”

The Croziers laughed and all moved back to their places on the bed. Tom then began directing his older brothers in the serving of breakfast while he sorted out teas and coffees, making sure everything was just right. 

James relaxed into Francis’s side as they ate and the conversation flowed onto other topics. As he looked around at his partner and his sons, he felt ready to face a day filled with love, laughter and new traditions.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed!! 
> 
> If you have questions and/or feedback then hit me up in the comments 
> 
> Thanks for reading!! <3


End file.
